Viola Davis behind new series on police violence in black communities
Viola Davis stepped into the role of executive producer and narrator for the limited docuseries Two Sides of the Truth, a four-part project developed for TV One that examined fatal police encounters in Black communities. The announcement positioned the series as an effort to move beyond headlines and give context to specific incidents that had already shaped national conversations about accountability.
Ebony reported on April 25 that the series would focus on four high-profile cases described as watershed moments for both law enforcement and the communities involved. The production came from JuVee Productions, the company Davis runs with her husband Julius Tennon, in partnership with L. Plummer Media Group. At the time of the initial press materials, a premiere date had not yet been set.
Series Premiere and Broadcast Details
The docuseries ultimately premiered on January 22, 2018, at 10 PM ET on TV One. Four one-hour episodes aired weekly through mid-February, giving viewers a structured look at each case within the limited-series format. The completed run replaced earlier speculation about an unreleased project and delivered the finished work on the cable network that had commissioned it.
Cases Featured in the Series
The episodes centered on Eric Garner in New York, Ezell Ford in California, John Crawford in Ohio, and Sandra Bland in Texas. Each segment revisited fatal police encounters that occurred between 2014 and 2015, drawing on public records and contemporary reporting. The selection reflected incidents that had already generated sustained attention and legal scrutiny before the series went into production.
Format and Approach of the Docuseries
The series presented multiple viewpoints, including perspectives from law enforcement experts and independent observers. Viola Davis narrated throughout, providing continuity across the episodes. The structure allowed the program to lay out timelines and available evidence while leaving space for differing interpretations of the same events, consistent with the title’s emphasis on competing accounts.
Viola Davis’ Broader Advocacy Work
Through JuVee Productions, Davis has continued developing projects that address social themes after the 2018 run of Two Sides. The company later secured additional first-look arrangements, though none revisited the specific cases covered in the TV One series. Her involvement in the docuseries aligned with a longer pattern of selecting material that engages questions of justice and representation without requiring new announcements to sustain that focus.
The completed series fulfilled the original intent described in the 2017 press materials by moving from concept to broadcast within roughly eight months. Davis’s narration and production credit remained consistent from announcement through airing, and the four episodes provided a contained examination of the selected cases rather than an ongoing franchise. Viewers who encountered the project after its initial run could access the full limited series through TV One’s archives, preserving the record of how the network handled the subject at that time.
